Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the issue of employability in Canada.
My name is Keith Messenger, and I am a strategic planning and policy analyst for the skills and learning branch of the Nova Scotia Department of Education.
Employability is a key component of Canada's economic and social future. As in many other provinces and jurisdictions, Nova Scotia faces a multitude of challenges regarding both its current and future workforce.
Today, I would like to discuss a key provincial initiative designed to help address these challenges: the Nova Scotia skills and learning framework. In addition, I'll offer some highlights of what's been done in the past year and what we would like to see for the future.
Released in 2002, the framework was designed to help address a number of a labour force and education challenges that hindered the development of a well-balanced, skilled, and knowledgeable labour force. Some of the labour force challenges included an aging and decreasing population as well as increased education and training requirements for most jobs. The education challenges included a significantly high number of people without a high school diploma, as well as many people with minimal or low literacy and numeracy skills.
The framework consists of three goals: first, to meet the skill needs of Nova Scotia's labour market; second, to provide better labour market access and supports to Nova Scotians; and third, to strengthen Nova Scotia's system of lifelong learning opportunities.
“The Skills Nova Scotia Annual Progress Report 2005-2006” highlights Nova Scotia's impressive record of success in moving the province's skills agenda forward.
As outlined in the report, the accomplishments of 21 provincial departments, agencies, and offices, as well as engaged stakeholders from business, industry, educational institutions, community organizations, and labour reflect the actions needed to support Nova Scotia in developing a world-class workforce fully prepared to take advantage of existing and future opportunities.
Under the first goal, meeting the skill needs of Nova Scotia's labour force means having a finger on the pulse of Nova Scotia's immediate, emerging, and future labour market needs. Timely and accurate labour market information underlies the development of responsive policies and programs and supports labour market decision-making.
Some highlights from accomplishments of the past year include round tables with CEOs of Nova Scotia's largest companies. A research project was initiated to gain a better understanding of the economic and social policy implementations of Nova Scotia's changing demographic situation. The “2005 Nova Scotia Labour Market Review”, which outlines key labour market statistics in Nova Scotia, was published. Numerous education and training programs were introduced to address labour market skills, shortages, and gaps. The development of policies and programs to promote safe and healthy work environments, fair employment standards, and stable labour-management relations was continued. Considerable progress was also made in developing a process for recognizing international credentials and helping immigrants to understand the process that must be undertaken to practise their professions in Nova Scotia.
With respect to the second goal, coordinating programs and services to support Nova Scotians in making career and employment choices is critical for the success of the skills Nova Scotia framework. This involves providing career and employment counselling services and resources, and ensuring access to education and training for all Nova Scotians.
In the past year, access to employment counselling services was expanded through a variety of print, classroom, and web-based resources. New publications and resources to support students, teachers, counsellors, and parents were developed, and the Nova Scotia career website was expanded to include career development and employment sections, as well as additional Nova Scotia-specific labour market information.
The Educate to Work program, an employment development pilot project, and a new grant for first-time students from low-income families all provided workplace learning and enhancement of employment opportunities for income assistance recipients and low-income individuals. Programs for groups underrepresented in the labour market were supported.
Our third goal, the nurturing of a lifelong learning culture in Nova Scotia, is a prerequisite for the continued development of a skilled and knowledgeable labour force. In 2005-06, great strides were made in encouraging positive attitudes toward learning to prepare Nova Scotians at all stages of life for success in the future.
In 2005-06, developmentally appropriate education and literacy programs for children were supported. A program called Options and Opportunities, which was designed to expand secondary students' exposure to the education and career choices available to them after graduation, was piloted.
Cooperative education and apprenticeship programs were developed to provide valuable work experience and apprenticeship hours for our youth. In 2005-06 alone, approximately 500 adult learners graduated with their high school graduation diplomas through the Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning, bringing the total number of graduates to almost 2,000 since 2001. Most of these adult learners went on to further education and to find better employment opportunities.
Construction of the new Nova Scotia Community College, Metro campus, and the renovations for existing campuses that has commenced, will bring Nova Scotia's college system capacity to approximately 10,000 seats by 2007.
The skills Nova Scotia framework is an effective catalyst for creating strategic partnerships and opportunities for skills partners to work hand in hand to advance programs to meet common needs. The result of these cooperative efforts among industry, business, and government is a more focused and sustained effort to develop and distribute the programs and services we need to develop a skilled, knowledgeable, and responsive workforce.
For the future, a retention, recruitment, repatriation, and retraining initiative will assist in assuring that supply meets demand in the Nova Scotia labour market, and we see the federal government's role as greatly aiding the province in the deployment of its programs by taking a new approach to the labour market development agreement, the LMDA, by devolving responsibility to the province and by implementing a labour market partnership agreement, an LMPA, to allow flexibility to use funding for employees at risk, underemployed and underutilized groups, and other non-EI-eligible clients.
One glove doesn't fit all. Federal programs are appreciated but need flexibility and adaptability to work in local systems and markets. Education and training is the foundation of productivity, and Nova Scotia needs federal support for initiatives that increase productivity--individual and otherwise.
Thank you very much.